If you have ever listened to a football match being covered on television or the radio, then you will have heard the work of the pundits who work alongside the commentators to bring you the action. Often tending to be former footballers themselves, they are responsible for offering a bit more technical insight into what is happening on the pitch, rather than purely the facts that are in front of them, which are usually supplied by the commentators.
Pundits on TV
For a time, Sky Sports was the only broadcaster in the United Kingdom covering Premier League football, but that changed when the Competition and Markets Authority decided that that was unfair to the viewer. As a result, numerous other channels have popped up since then, with the likes of BT Sport, which became TNT Sports, Setanta Sports and Amazon Prime Video all offering their own coverage of events. Add to that the terrestrial broadcasters that have the right to show the FA Cup and summer tournaments such as the World Cup and you can see how much football is on TV nowadays.
Each channel that shows football feels the need to have a pundit available to work alongside the commentator, as well as in the studio to help explain what we’ve seen to the presenter. Sometimes, the pundits will disagree with each other, which makes for excellent television, whilst other times they will simply offer their expert analysis on what it is that we’ve seen taking place or how a given goal was scored in the match.
List of Pundits
Here is a look at some of the best-known pundits working in television, as well as a sense of their expertise. In the case that a player played for more than one team, we will give the team that they were predominantly known for playing for:
| Pundit | Channel | Background |
|---|---|---|
| Alan Shearer | BBC | Former Newcastle United Striker |
| Alex Scott | BBC | Former Arsenal Ladies Defender |
| Ally McCoist | ITV / TNT Sports | Former Rangers Striker |
| Chris Sutton | TNT Sports | Former Blackburn Rovers Striker |
| Danny Murphy | BBC | Former Liverpool Midfielder |
| Emma Hayes | Sky Sports | Former Chelsea FC Women Manager |
| Eni Aluko | ITV | Former Chelsea FC Women Forward |
| Fara Williams | BBC | Former Chelsea FC Women Midfielder |
| Gary Neville | Sky Sports / ITV | Former Manchester United Defender |
| Graeme Souness | ITV / Sky Sports | Former Liverpool Midfielder |
| Ian Wright | ITV | Former Arsenal Striker |
| Izzy Christiansen | BBC | Former Manchester City Midfielder |
| James McFadden | Sky Sports | Former Everton Forward |
| Jamie Carragher | Sky Sports | Former Liverpool Defender |
| Jamie Redknapp | Sky Sports | Former Liverpool Midfielder |
| Karen Carney | ITV / Sky Sports / BBC / TNT Sports | Former Birmingham City Midfielder |
| Leanne Crichton | BBC | Former Glasgow City Midfielder |
| Lee Dixon | ITV | Former Arsenal Defender |
| Lucy Ward | TNT Sports | Former Leeds United Women Forward |
| Micah Richards | BBC / Sky Sports | Former Manchester City Defender |
| Michael Stewart | BBC Scotland | Former Hibernian Midfielder |
| Rachel Brown-Finnis | BBC / TNT Sports | Former Liverpool Goalkeeper |
| Rio Ferdinand | TNT Sports | Former Manchester United Defender |
| Roy Keane | Sky Sports | Former Manchester United Midfielder |
| Steve McManaman | TNT Sports | Former Liverpool Forward |
| Steven Naismith | BBC Scotland | Former Everton Forward |
| Sue Smith | Sky Sports | Former England Forward |